DAR AL ISLAM - AFGHANISTAN: IRAN MEDDLING IN AFGHANISTAN

Iran a source of tension in Afghanistan's western Herat
24. January 2007

By Sylvie Briand, AFP The influence of Iran is a source of tension between Shiites and Sunnis that recently exploded into deadly violence in Afghanistan's western city of Herat, residents say.

It is even seeing some Shiites lean towards the hardline Taliban movement waging an insurgency that occasionally shatters the city's calm, some say.

Herat, 160 kilometres (100 miles) from the Iranian border, has long been under Persian influence: even today most women prefer the chador to the burqa, the markets are filled with Iranian products, and mosques are financed by Tehran.

From private schools and roads to hospitals, "Iran has indeed poured millions of dollars into several major projects in this region and in Kabul," says Herat governor Sayyed Hussein Anwari.

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